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The more I see Castlevania on the Nintendo DS, the more I think that it’s turning more and more into Metroid.

The former borrows a lot from the latter, and things may not have crossed the line until now. It’s official. With Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Konami has now went over and made its own Samus. This new title is the first in the series to have a main character of the female persuasion. Her name is Shanoa, and she’ll be your delightful hero for this romp through Dracula’s castle and surrounding village.

When it first came out, Silent Hill was a different horror game. Instead of quick scare, it opted for atmosphere and intimidation to produce fear. It wasnâ€™t the gruesome Hunter that jumped out that scared players; instead, it was the impression that there was something lurking around the corner that caused anxiety.

The game used the limits of the PlayStation to its advantage, ingeniously using fog to create a feeling of the unknown. Subsequent titles have used the same technique, but the crew working on it had some trouble working on the next-gen title: Silent Hill Homecoming.

The music-rhythm scene is about to get more crowded. For the past week, thereâ€™s been rumors and even a possible picture of a Guitar Hero drum set. Well, out of left field, Konami is throwing its hat in the genre that it started years ago with the Bemani series and titles like GuitarFreaks.

With Rock Revolution, the developer will focus on drums and guitar (sorry karaoke fans, no vocals). The drums themselves are very different from what you see in Rock Band. The set is smaller and the pads are numerous. There are six of them that represent cymbals and other drums. Thereâ€™s also a foot pedal.

There has always been a thread of the cinematic running through Hideo Kojimaâ€™s Metal Gear Solid series. Itâ€™s the first action game that got grabbed the film and video game elements and mixed it just right.

More than 10 years later, Kojima is finishing off the series with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and itâ€™s going off with an epic bang. At Konamiâ€™s Gamers Night, Kojima showed off the latest trailer, replete with an awesome voice over by what sounds like Don LaFontaine and action sequences strung one after another, showing Snake battling mechs and beasties.

From the looks of it, the game is shaping up to be a heavyweight fight between Solid Snake and Liquid Ocelot.

Itâ€™s been 10 years since Dance Dance Revolution was introduced into arcades. Since then, the game has been iconic and the butt of jokes in everything from a Madonna videos to South Park.

To celebrate the franchiseâ€™s 10th anniversary, Konami is releasing three versions of the title (if there werenâ€™t enough already). For the PlayStation 2, fans will get a revamped project called Dance Dance Revolution X (note the many meanings of “X” as in 10, as in variable, as in you don’t know what you’re going to get). For the Wii, players will get a another edition called DDR: Hottest Party 2. Lastly, the Xbox 360 will get DDR Universe 3.

One of the more interesting things that Hideo Kojima showed us when demoing the beginning of Metal Gear Solid 4 is that there some interesting brand names in the title.

One of them is an iPod. Yup, you heard right. When Solid Snake is out sneaking around and smacking down foes, he listens to his 30gig iPod and the killing music? It’s love songs. The device actually has a purpose in the game other than being decorative. By exploring the world, Snake kind find different tracks and download him to the iPod.

It’s going to be a busy week in San Francisco with Microsoft, Ubisoft and Konami holding events previewing their upcoming titles. We’ll try to get things written up as soon as possible, barring possible embargoes and such.

Some things to look out for:

A bunch of sequels with the number “2” in them, including a title that rhymes with Tears of Gwar. I’m as excited as you folks are, check out the blog in the upcoming week for previews and info.

Don’t know much about what Konami has coming out but I assume there might be something with a someone named Solid Snake and a movie tie-in.

As for Ubisoft, there’s some things coming out, but right now, it’s all embargoed.

Variety Children’s Charity will be holding a Rock Band competition at 9 p.m. Saturday in San Francisco. There’s going to be a skills competition and live 80s cover band called Pop Rocks. And no Rock Band event would be complete without a Battle of the Bands.

The event is going to be at 12 Galaxies, 2565 Mission Street. You have to pay money to compete, but hey, it’s for a good cause. For details, check out rockband4charity.com.

Itâ€™s called the Ritz for a reason. The place looked like a museum from the outside. Fluted columns, trimmed landscaping, an immaculate faÃ§ade â€” I imagined the building as a place for a wedding reception, not a gamerâ€™s day.

But here I was in the April morning, excited to check out the latest titles from Sierra Entertainment. The game developer and publisher had a lot going. There was the kiddie fare with the last of the Spyro trilogy and the latest Crash Bandicoottitle for the Wii.

On the other end, you had some of the more big name games with 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand and the Bourne Conspiracy. The latest title by the hip-hop star looks better than its predecessor (but thatâ€™s not saying much). Meanwhile, Conspiracy looked like a simplified action game geared toward the casual crowd.

Lastly, Sierra showed off its hard-core titles in the corner that included Prototype, Ghostbusters and World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. The first title, made by the folks who did Hulk Ultimate Destruction, had the most promise. Ghostbusters looked like it was coming along rather nicely with its one level and tech demonstration. Lastly, Soviet Assault, a port of the PC title, seems decent in adapting the PC controls to the console.

I stayed, checked out each title and wrote a little about them. Personally, Iâ€™m looking forward to Prototype. The developers at Radical Entertainment have Peter Molyneaux ambition, but letâ€™s hope, they have the wherewithal to see that vision through.

The Society of Single Professionals is hosting an Art & Wine Tasting Party this Saturday in San Rafael from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. For $20 in advance or $30 at the door you get all the wine you can taste from boutique wineries and you get to be in a room with other singles looking to have a fun time.

It is being held at Art Works Downtown, a gallery that is now showing work from artists at the Headlands Center for the Arts.

I wrote about the Society of Single Professionals months ago and got a great response. The non-profit organization hosts several parties all over the Bay Area for singles who just want to get out there and meet other singles. It’s mostly an older crowd, people in their 50s and 60s, and a friendly one.